View attachment 217991
SOTD 02/15/20
The mantra in the 30 Day Concentration (30DC) thread at The Shave Den (TSD) is “technique trumps tools”. My concentration this month has been the daily use of MWF. After discovering my grail razor (LaResche 51) and experiencing 7 consecutive,bloodless, irritation-free BBS shaves, I’vealso noticed that my face and dome surfacesappear shiny, soft and well-hydrated. Twoshaves with the LaResche 77 yielded much the same result albeit with some minimal heat. So I asked myself, if soap used is partof our technique, how much of my shave results should I attribute to the daily use ofmy favorite soap?
To test this theory I decided to use my 115 yr old Gillette Single Ring. This old girl’snickname is “The Weeper Maker”. She always delivers a very close shave, but I’ve never escaped without at least one weeper. In order to maintain at least the semblance of consistency, I loaded the same blade I’vebeen using, a Wizamet Super Iridium, a relatively sharp and smooth blade from my remaining stash of 200 original Polish blades.
The Viking Silvertip Badger brush generated its usual thick MWF paste. Thispaste was applied to the shaving surfaces and then face and head lathered with sufficient amounts of warm water over the prior scrub of the those surfaces with PAA’sCube Preshave Soap.
I then picked up “The Weeper Maker” and launched into the first WTG pass. She sang through that first whisker reduction with aplomb. A careful examination afterwardsrevealed no blood on either face or noggin. I relathered and completed my second XTG pass with no blood and someminimal roughness in the usual spots - theAdam’s Apple and the middle of the back ofmy head.
Now I asked myself, should I tempt fate? I decided to only lather the two rough spots for some ATG buffing. I proceeded gentlyand carefully to bloodlessly eliminate the roughness. A check with the alum blockupon completion yielded some slightstinging in the back of the head and noirritation at all around the troublesome Adam’s Apple! Unbelievable! More powerto MWF! I feel clean, smooth and refreshed!
RAZOR: Gillette Single Ring 1905 Vintage
BLADE: Wizamet Super Iridium
PREP: Cold water rinse followed by a scrub with PAA’s Preshave Cube Soap
BRUSH: Viking Silvertip Badger
SOAP: Mitchell’s Wool Fat
POSTSHAVE: Cold water wash with brushsqueezings followed by Thayers LavenderWH and finished with Fine AccoutrementsLavender Pour Homme AS Splash
Click to expand...
